Physician Assistants and Health System Reform
Clinical Capabilities, Practice Activities, and Potential Roles
- P. Eugene Jones, PhD, PA-C;
- James F. Cawley, MPH, PA-C
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
Excerpt
NATIONAL efforts to reform the health care system will likely result in changes in the roles and responsibilities, practice combinations, and distribution of health professionals, including midlevel providers such as physician assistants (PAs), nurse practitioners (NPs), and certified nurse-midwives. Although recent studies have addressed differing scenarios of the projected roles of midlevel providers,1-5 implementation of initiatives that involve PAs may be influenced by an overall shortage of PAs, existing barriers to PA practice, and the need for commitment to physician-dependent practice relationships in a team-oriented health care delivery system. This article reviews the history, academic preparation, clinical capabilities, distribution, and practice activities of PAs and discusses the potential roles of PAs in the changing health system environment.
The origin of the PA can be traced to the new health practitioner movement of the 1960s, during which the PA concept emerged from a combination of events. As experienced hospital corpsmen
Footnotes
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Reprint requests to University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd, Dallas, TX 75235-9090 (Dr Jones).
